mmmmm^ 



/v^vvw^^ 



y^^mm^m^^^ 



ymu^\j^mi>j^i 






OF CONGRESS, i 



[SMITHSOUIAN DEPOSIT.] Z 

^z./: T A 3 5 91 # 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 






ivv^^.;; 



i^y^o^»^«m.... 






imxAriiy 






^y^vWW 



mmmm^ 



;;*'ii*iV,>/ 



.^u'.^^^'vu i^^W*^W' 



^Cp^vg^^VvV^VW^^vg^^yg^^, 



^'^yWki^ 



k-^i ■* vw*' ,»■, ,, '^:. - w/;w>.l:> "^ w' ^.J 



^•^%^, 






mm' 



^yvv» 



^^^'^^uf,:nt\ 






«»*".. '■ 



v^ywv; 









r^^^^^^&w^«^^^ 






W^;fe,,iA«; 



'*»w;; 






'««^wu:'r**'^^^^"^^ 



:,w^, 






,?|V« 



^'^^^^^^^VSv^^' 






'«Vggg v^^^^, 



v-w^Slg^^^^^, 



^■S^yvv^^'^w^vw 






'^^^^^^ 






ll 



c^- •"-' 



^ 



^Y: 



VERSES 5 

DESCRIPTIVE OF 



THE GIANT'S CAUSEWAY: 



ADDRESSED TO 



ALICK M'lULLAN, 

CAUSEWAY BOATMAN AND GUIDE: 



v/ 

BY F. W. M. 



Wixi\i (^jfplanaiotg ^oits, nnb h P^ap. 



Omnia large 

Tellus ipsa parit, Naturaque daedala rerum. 

LucRKT, Lib. T. 1. 234. 



ISTEW^ EIDITIOISr. 



BELFA ST: 

PRINTED AT THE NORTHERN WHIG OFI'ICE, 

CALENDER STREET, 
MDCCCLIX. 



f«0» fWT e*lUHT«»£ 

loDuiisWTickCislle 



G+AHT*« eAVSEWAV. 



t ! 







^^'p'^ 



PRINTED AT THS NOUTIIfiRN WHIO OFFICE, BKLKAST. 




THE CHIINEY-TOPS. 



THE 



GIANT'S CAUSEWAY. 



I. 

Alick M'Mullen !^ as different veins 

Of Strata vary the Causeway Heads, 
So, Alick M'MuUen, through different brains 

A different Stratum of Genius spreads : 
And thus it follows, whilst some are taught 

By arguments subtle, and diction terse ; 
That others, Alick, can only be caught 

By quaint connections of jingling verse. 

II. 

Then, Alick M'MuUen, will you and I 

Unite together our separate skills ; 
Whilst I the jingling verse supply, 

And you the lore of your native Hills. 
Do you step forth as a sturdy Guide, 

And point to each Cliff as we pass along. 
And I, as an echo, will steal beside, 

And shape the names into rugged song. 

^ Alick jNPMullen, now deceased, is succeeded by his brother David 
and his son Alick, who continue very competent guides to the 
Causeway. 



6 THE giant's causeway, 

III. 

Alick M'Mullen ! thus hand in hand 

To the Eastward Coast our course we draw, 
From the "Bay of the Cow,"^ to the "Bay of the Sand,** 

To Port na Gagna^ from Port na Baw, 
The Stookins^ sever the Sister Ports 

Where climbs the Grandmother's^ stooping form, 
And the Giaxt's Marbles^ strew the courts 

As thunder-bolts from a Giant-storm. 

IV. 

Alick M^Mullen ! yonder Well^ 

With its haggard guardian'' demands your part ; 
Oh ! Alick, might not its waters tell 

Of the lonely sighs of a broken heart, 



1 The Hotel from which we are supposed to start, is on the Headland 
above Port na Baw or Cow Port. 

2 The Second Port is Port na Gagna, or the Sand Port, from a small 
portion of sand thrown up by the tide. 

2 The Stookins, which divide the two, are two hills sloping into the 
sea, probably called from stooks or stacks — otherwise chimneys. 

4 There is a rock half way up the largest Stookin resembling an old 
woman climbing up the hill. This is called the Great Grandmother. 

5 Huge rocks of white lime-stone, which bear this name. Off the 
Port lies a rock called the Highlander's Bonnet, 

^ A small well of very clear fresh water, close to the sea, at the 
commencement of the little Causeway, in Port na Gagna. 

7 The old Woman who keeps the vvell lost her husband in a storm 
at sea, three hours after their marriage. She is not quite sound in the 
head. 



THE GIANT S CAUSEWAY. 



Where Lilly welcomes the laughing fair, 

And a triple draught ^ must its virtue prove ; 

One little pause in the Lady's Chair ;- 
And one little thought of the lady's love ? 



Alick M'Mullen ! on, Man, on ! 

To the central point^ of all your glory ; 
Now point to each favourite angled stone : 

Now give to each joint its separate story. 
Alick M'Mullen, well may you smile ; 

A nobler scene was never trod : 
The Causeway is of your own dear Isle, 

But give the praise and the honour to God. 

VL 

Alick M'Mullen, where all is fair, 

Port N offer boasts of its separate pride ; 

The Giant's Loom,^ and the Giant's Chair, 
And the Organ's Pipes in the mountain side : 

1 Three draughts of the Well, nnd a seat in the Ladies' Chair, are 
said to ensure marriage to all young ladies who try the experiment. As 
many try, doubtless some succeed. 

2 The Ladies' Chair, in ihe Honeycomb, in the second Causeway. 

3 The Grand Causeway. The Guides point to some pillars with 
peculiar interest, as " the Key Stone," one very perfect " Pentagon," 
one nine-sided column, the only one there. 

4 A collection of Pillars, in some cases containing lifty-two joints. 
The rest are fantastic figures, to which the local names are here applied. 



8 THE giant's causeway. 

And Port Nofferi of yonder pavement strange, 
With Port na Gagna the right contends : 

And a steeper cliff and a wider range 

Where the Shepherd's Path up the cliff ascends. 

VII. 

Alick M'Mullen ! weVe gained the Cliff, 

With a sturdy struggle o'er grass and stone ; 
And though our sinews are somewhat stiff, 

No matter, Alick, we'll on, we'll on, 
Where the Sea-Gull's Island^ skirts the deep, 

By RovinvallaV stately head, 
And Mitre and Coronet^ crown the sweep, 

Of the Amphitheatre's^ grassy bed. 

VIII. 
Alick M^MuUen, the Spaniard's pride 

Paid little homage to Nature's frown. 
When they hurled their bolts at the rock's tall side,^ 

And dreamed they had battered a Castle down : 

1 The Causeway divides Port na Gagna from Port Noffer, and is 
thus placed in each. 

2 A rocky Island, between Port NofFer and the Amphitheatre Bay. 
S The cliff that overhangs the bay. 

4 Fantastic figures in the rock. 

5 A circular bay next to Port Noffer. 

6 The Spaniards, at the time of the Armada, mistook the Chimney 
Headlands for the Castle of Dunluce, and knocked away some of the 
pillars. 



THE GIAKTS CAUSEWAY. 



But nature avenged her own good name. 

Though the Chiivineys staggered beneath the blow ; 

And Port na Spagna^ will long proclaim 
The bark of the Spaniard slept below. 



IX. 

Alick M*Mullen, let's ride, let's ride 

On the Horse's Back- by Ben Ouran's rocks ; 
Beneath whose summit the Raven glides, 

And watches the cub of the borrowing Fox : 
From Port na Calye, the Old Wife's Sound, , 

To Port na Tober, the Port op the Well,-^ 
To where the Black Rocks' shadows bound 

The low Port Neigh's^ narrow dell. 



1 The Bay takes its name from a Spanish galleon that was wrecked 
in it. There is an organ here, called the Spanish organ, smaller than 
that in Port Noflfer. It was from this cliff that a woman fell some ten 
years ago, who is still alive. 

- The name of the ridge between Port na Spagna and the neighbour- 
ing Bay, which is sometimes called Fox's Bay, from the foxes that 
breed there. 

3 Port na Calye, "Old Wife's Bay." 

i Port na Tober, " The Bay of the Well.' 

^ Port Neigh, a very little bay, divided from Port na Tober by a 
ridge of rocks. 



10 THE GIAIsT'S causeway. 

X. 

Alick M'Mullen ! halt, Man, halt ! 

Above the ** Horse-Shoe/'^ what glorious show ! 
Red Ochre cliffs and black Basalt, 

And pillars ranging in double row. 
Four hundred and thirty feet^ erect 

Ab6ve the deep the columns arise : 
Oh, Pleaskin !^ God is thine architect ! 

Oh, Pleaskin ! thy model is in the skies ! 



XL 

Alick M 'Mullen, in Yonder Seat,^ 

For a breathing place, let our course be stayed; 
There mark the_ Ocean beneath our feet. 

There mark the stately Colonnade : 
There people below the quiet Port, 

With shapes fantastic and strange and wild, 
With the pomp of a Monarch's Kingly Court, 5 

And the homely group of a Nurse and Child. ^ 



1 A circular Inlet, called Horse-Shoe Bay, at the foot of Pleaskin. 

2 According to the Ordnance Survey. 

^ The finest Headland seen from the land, 

4 Dr. Hamilton's seat, from Dr. Hamilton, who lived there six weeks 
whilst modelling the Causeway. 

5 The King and his Nobles — rocks so called. 
^ Rocks so called. 



11 



XII. 

Alick M^Mullen ; forward, Man ! 

Another Cliff and our course is o'er : 
The Giant's PuLriT^ in Huge Ben Ban,'- 

O'erlooks the furthest northern shore. 
Down Port na Truin's pass, I w^een ; 

The view will pay the steep descent ; 
Where, had not Pleaskin ever been, 

Bengore^ had been magnificent. 



XIII. 

Alick IVrMullen ! our Eastward track 

Is nearly over — our course is done ; 
Port Brock, Port Fad, and the Spiry Stack, ^ 

In deep Port Moon spread Eastward on : 
But, Alick, we will not there delay. 

Nor cheat the mind with a lesser joy,^ 
With the ruined walls of Ddnseverick Bat,^ 

Or the dark Turf Stacks''' of Ballintoy. 



• A hollow in the cliff, with circular pillars* 

- Ben Ban, or White Cliff— the extreme cliff to the north, 
' The finest Headhind as seen from the sea. 

• A green circular hill so called, and different bays stretching 
Kistward. 

'> xVfter Bengorc the scenery becomes less interesting. 

• The remains of Dunseverick" Castle, in the bay of the same name. 
~ The limestone-rocks of BalUntoy are culled the Tuif Stacks, and 

•are so called from their appearance. 



12 THE GIAKT's causeway. 

XIV. 

Alick, farewell ! a trustier guide, 

A readier hand I would not need, 
With oar to pierce Dunkerry's^ side, 

Or up Port Coon^ my foot to lead. 
Alick, farewell ! may worthier strains 

Eecord thy fame in other days ; 
And wealthier bards repay thy pains 

With more substantial meed than praise ! 

1 Dunkerry*s Cave is the Sea cave to the eastward of the Hotel, 
only to be entered by water. 

2 Port Coon Cave can be entered both by land and water, but the 
land passage is a great scramble. 



FIKI S . 



% 









m^^^'^m^m 






'^<J.^^.^^^^h 



'\J^^\^ ^ -^ ^^U^vs 



r^CTrr 



\J^\I^^u^^^^\J^^ 


















\mm 



pu^mn 






Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: March 2009 

PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN COLLECTIONS PRESERVATION 

111 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township, PA 16066 

(724)779-2111 



Va/v,^,:^; 












•*/r,^,J»,^*^; 



;W*'WW 



gWg^^^ 



^^-^--Wiii 









'^W^'w^^^^te/^WW^w^^v' 






^ ^ v-y . y. ^ ^ » w y ; 



"■««^«»»c:> 






fi\j)(i^^^^^^^ 






^W««vv>^w'' , ..^^'^^ 



^^^V^W^^i^yu^^^ 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




014 433 649 5 



